2.1. Supported Hardware

Debian does not impose hardware requirements beyond the requirements
of the Linux kernel and the GNU tool-sets. Therefore, any
architecture or platform to which the Linux kernel, libc,
gcc, etc. have been ported, and for which a Debian
port exists, can run Debian. Please refer to the Ports pages at
http://www.debian.org/ports/mips/ for
more details on Mips architecture systems which have been
tested with Debian.

Rather than attempting to describe all the different hardware
configurations which are supported for Mips, this section
contains general information and pointers to where additional
information can be found.

2.1.1. Supported Architectures

Debian 3.1 supports eleven major architectures and several
variations of each architecture known as “flavors”.

Architecture

Debian Designation

Subarchitecture

Flavor

Intel x86-based

i386

vanilla

speakup

linux26

Motorola 680x0

m68k

Atari

atari

Amiga

amiga

68k Macintosh

mac

VME

bvme6000

mvme147

mvme16x

DEC Alpha

alpha

Sun SPARC

sparc

sun4cdm

sun4u

ARM and StrongARM

arm

netwinder

riscpc

shark

lart

IBM/Motorola PowerPC

powerpc

CHRP

chrp

PowerMac

pmac

PReP

prep

APUS

apus

HP PA-RISC

hppa

PA-RISC 1.1

32

PA-RISC 2.0

64

Intel ia64-based

ia64

MIPS (big endian)

mips

SGI Indy/Indigo 2

r4k-ip22

r5k-ip22

Broadcom BCM91250A (SWARM)

sb1-swarm-bn

MIPS (little endian)

mipsel

Cobalt

cobalt

DECstation

r4k-kn04

r3k-kn02

Broadcom BCM91250A (SWARM)

sb1-swarm-bn

IBM S/390

s390

IPL from VM-reader and DASD

generic

IPL from tape

tape

This document covers installation for the
Mips architecture. If you are looking
for information on any of the other Debian-supported architectures
take a look at the
Debian-Ports pages.

2.1.2. CPU, Main Boards, and Video Support

Debian on Mips currently supports two subarchitectures:

SGI IP22: this platform includes the SGI machines Indy, Indigo 2 and
Challenge S. Since these machines are very similar, whenever this document
refers to the SGI Indy, the Indigo 2 and Challenge S are meant as well.

Broadcom BCM91250A (SWARM): this is an ATX form factor evaluation board from
Broadcom based on their SiByte processor family.

Complete information regarding supported mips/mipsel machines can be found
at the Linux-MIPS homepage. In the
following, only the systems supported by the Debian installer will be
covered. If you are looking for support for other subarchitectures, please
contact the
debian-mips mailing list.

2.1.2.1. CPU

On SGI IP22, SGI Indy, Indigo 2 and Challenge S with R4000, R4400, R4600 and R5000
processors are supported by the Debian installation system on big endian
MIPS. The Broadcom BCM91250A evaluation board comes with an SB1250 chip with
two SB-1 cores which are supported in SMP mode by this installer.

Some MIPS machines can be operated in both big and little endian mode. For
little endian MIPS, please read the documentation for the mipsel
architecture.

2.1.3. Graphics Card

Debian's support for graphical interfaces is determined by the
underlying support found in XFree86's X11 system. Most AGP, PCI and
PCIe video cards work under XFree86. Details on supported graphics
buses, cards, monitors, and pointing devices can be found at
http://www.xfree86.org/. Debian 3.1 ships
with XFree86 version 4.3.0.

The XFree86 X11 window system is only supported on the SGI Indy. The
Broadcom BCM91250A evaluation board has standard 3.3v PCI slots and supports
VGA emulation or Linux framebuffer on a selected range of graphics cards.
A compatibility listing for
the BCM91250A is available.